Wasteland
by Memelimore
Summary: During the tour, something happens to the outside world, leaving the kids in an isolated dystopian world. However, they might not be as lonely as they think. 6 years after the incident, a rabid gang finds the survivors, wanting to steal the factory. The Ticket Winners now need to work together to defend themselves from the oncoming group. Maybe a lil Charluca and a lil Miolet :)
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything CATCF or anything CATCF related, all rights go to Dahl and Warner Bros. This is just for fun**

 **A/N I hope you all enjoy, like I said on my other fanfic, Im not the best writer but hope to improve. I was inspired to write this after seeing a promotional pic of the film (The lil profile pic thingy thats in the lil box) and thinking "Why does this look like an apocalypse film?". And I was partially inspired by the Fallout game series, obviously this isn't going to be like that but the pic reminded me of the game. This is a Prologue and centred more on Wonka, however that will change in the next chapter. I might do a "What happened in between the prologue and the actual story" as a seperate story. But for now I will be doing this. I had actually written a bit of this story already in a notepad a couple of months ago. However, I won't upload THAT much because I have uni and the other story, but anyways I hope you all enjoy.**

Prologue:

"And this is Hair Toffee…" Mr Wonka exclaimed to the tour group. They were in one the deepest parts of the factory, the inventing room. The inventing room, being one of the most important parts of the factory wad mostly closed off, but Wonka allowed the group to visit as he showed them the many wondrous new candies he was developing. He had lead the group to his wonderful new candy, the 'Hair Toffee', and was telling them what it was.

"You suck down one of these lil' boogers and and in exactly half an hour, a brand new crop of hair will start growing out of the top of your lil' noggin. And a moustache, and a beard!" He exclaimed. He held out the candy for everyone to see. Everyone but Charlie and his grandfather seemed confused and unimpressed.

"Who wants a beard!?" Mike asked in disgust. Wonka pouted, and thought for a minute, but just as he was about to respond alarms went off. Being the heart of the factory, doors, sealed themselves shut.

"Whats going on?" he called out to one of the Oompa Loompas

"We don't know, everything was going fine, but our systems detect that its an outside threat."

Suddenly the ground shook, bits of machinery flew everywhere. Everyone was told not to panic and that everything would be fine, but the shaking threw them off the floor. Everyone collapsed and the shaking stopped.

"Mr Wonka, what happened?" asked Charlie.

"I don't know, but I can assure you that this wasn't part of the tour." He responded nervously.

"Sir, you might want to take a look at this!" one of the Oompa Loompa's called out.

The rest of the tour group followed Wonka to where the Oompa Loompa was. Willy gasped at what he saw, trying to shield the others away. He reassured them not to be alarmed and that everything was under control, and that there was no need to panic.

"I want to go home!" Veruca groaned.

"Unfortunately little girl, thats not going to be possible…" He nervously said

"Why not!" Rupert Salt replied, "If my daughter wants to go home, she has the right to go home!"

"Well…. she has nowhere to go home to…in fact none of you do"

Outcries emerged from the parents, the children groaned, and Veruca began throwing a tantrum

"Mr Wonka, if I might ask, what do you mean?" Mike's father asked.

Mr Wonka told them that he wasn't sure what happened but the security cameras leading to outside showed a dystopia. A wasteland. As if a bomb dropped or something worse had happened. Mike pushed the Oompa Loompa out of the way to see that Mr Wonka was right. The world was empty. Everyone gone. Red dust clouded the skies, the ground broken, rubble everywhere. He wasn't sure if a bomb hit, but something definitely happened. Bodies littered the ground, the only place safe enough to be seemed was the factory. The streets empty, probably contaminated with radiation he wasn't sure. If a bomb did hit though, it must of been very far away as buildings were still partially intact.

"He's right…" he said, wide eyed.

The other children pushed past, gathering around the screen. Veruca began crying. Violet and Charlie stood there in shock.

"This has to be one of your games doesn't it!" Scarlett, Violet's mother, yelled.

"I can assure you it isn't… thats earthquake didn't come from my factory, and only a high enough threat could make my doors seal themselves off."

Charlie asked what they were going to do now, and for once Mr Wonka didn't know. Charlie then realised the horribleness of it all. His family were all gone, dead. He had just seen them before he came in for the tour, little did he know that that would be the last time he saw them.

"Well if we are to do anything Mr Wonka, I suggest we find some food, and warmth. This power isn't going to last forever. And I suggest we sit down with these children and let them rest. They are clearly in shock!" Grandpa Joe suggested.

Everyone else seemed to agree, Wonka especially since the power would probably shut off. He knew there was a manual generator for power but that was locked away, near the entrance, but there was no way they were going out now. There could be radiation, and if so, needed to let it die down before they could go out.

One of the Oompa Loompa's whispered to Mr Wonka that they needed to leave it a day or two before they could unlock the security override on the doors to visit other parts of the factory to get food. It was a good thing though, because who knows if any radiation got it, and if it did, they would have to be careful of the new dangers that they would have to face inside the other parts of the factories. Who knows what could of mutated.

Mr Wonka reassured everyone that everything would be fine and told them what the Oompa Loompa said, apart from the radiation or the mutated beings down there. Mr Wonka told the adults to comfort their children as he turned the security screen off.

Veruca, for the first time, was allowed to hug her father and cried in his arms. She wanted to go home and missed all her things. Violet's mother reassured her that she was strong and too independent to cry, and if the time comes to fight back. She soon secretly devised a survival plan. Mike and his father didn't say a word to each other, his father tried to pretend that nothing had happened. Charlie shed tears about his lost family, citing that Grandpa Joe was all he had left.

Mr Wonka sat back and watched, this wasn't his plan, but maybe it would teach these kids a lesson.


	2. 6 Years Later

**A/N I am back with another instalment of Wasteland. Thank you all for the reviews, and after this story finishes I've decided I will write a story about what happened after the bomb hit and everyone trying to survive. Sort of an in-between the prologue and this story kind of thing. I am aware that I probably need to proof read more. I often do but Im terrible at editing and writing in general haha. I'm having so much fun writing this and I have decided to make my schedule that ( after this week) every second week a new chapter will be uploaded (because I have that other story as well). I hope you all enjoy this and please R/R and if you have any suggestions then yeah, suggest lmao :)**

6 Years after that fateful incident the children, now teenagers, were living on their own inside the giant walls of the factory. It was safest in the inventing room, and after exploring the factory, they determined which parts were safe and which weren't.

Unfortunately not everyone had made it. Grandpa Joe unfortunately passed away a year later, leaving Charlie as the only person in his family to survive. Mr Salt, Mrs Beauregarde, and Mr Teevee all left the factory a couple of years later after supplies has run short. They never returned. Wonka then had the liberty of taking care of the children, to his horror. Wonka liked Charlie, who always tried to stay positive, but the others caused him grief. Mike wanted to rebel and go outside into the unknown, Veruca always complained, and Violet always wanted to take leadership. One night Wonka couldn't take it, and he mysteriously disappeared, leaving the children to fend for themselves. They had to grow up fast from the horror that awaited them outside.

It was the end of the month and the group began running out of supplies again, with Mike suggesting they go on another supply run. They often never found much, but it was enough to survive. Veruca complained, it would be a much further venture now that most of the shops around the factory were empty, and it would be much too dangerous.

"If you want too eat then you are coming. It wont be fair for us, the people who are risking their lives, to give you supplies that you didn't work for." Mike said sternly.

Mike had become much more efficient once his father disappeared. He knew that if he were to survive he had to pull his weight. He often came up with solutions and strategic plans to help enable the group to survive. Violet was their strongest ally. She knew how to fight, and being a girls scout, she already knew survival methods and was very resourceful. Charlie showed great leadership skills, and was hopeful. He always remained calm and positive. Veruca on the other hand, was surprisingly gifted in directing the group. She was always quite bossy, and when they went out for supplies she always used her gut feeling, which lead them away from danger.

"Fine!" she groaned. She always hated doing supply runs. She hated the walking, and the feeling of danger being present around every corner. They all grabbed their backpacks and ventured off into the unknown. They all armed themselves with weapons that they found in a local sporting goods store to protect themselves with. Mike lead the group, followed by Charlie, who would often talk to Veruca and tried to calm her from any arguments that would be caused by Violet who followed behind her.

Every supply run would lead them further into the unknown, and every time Charlie would pass his old house, Veruca would pull him from his gaze and try to make him maintain his focus. She knew that he was in pain, and would try to distract him. She would occasionally ask him to talk about it if he couldn't be distracted from his thoughts. In a way, they helped each other.

They had just passed his house when Veruca noticed an abandoned mall. It was in a direction they never usually went. They often ventured straight so they wouldn't get lost, but they decided that it could be worth it and followed her to the mall. As they got inside the mall they heard whispers . Voices filled with anger and hatred. Mike noticed the wall painted in what appeared to be blood.

"Hey check this out" Mike whispered. They followed discreetly, Veruca felt uneasy.

"Do you think its blood?" Charlie asked in concern.

He nodded and they peered around the corner to see the water fountain in the middle of the mall was no longer crystal clear, but dyed a musky red in colour. Veruca gagged and Violet stood frozen in shock. What they saw next was even more horrifying, body parts littered everywhere, and a much more gruesome sight before them. They had stumbled into the middle of an execution. Veruca insisted they leave but Mike and Violet wanted to check it out more, and to sneak around to gain supplies. This was a crazy gang's territory and the voices grew louder and angrier. They heard a gunshot, and the poor guy who had been interrogated lay lifeless on the floor. Veruca buried her head in Charlie's chest, not wanting to see what laid in front of her. Charlie whispered that they needed to go, not before Violet tripped on Charlie's gun that laid on the floor as he comforted Veruca. This alerted the gang and the group picked up their things and ran for their lives.

They ran with gunshots being heard behind them. The group ran past corridors and got to a stairway. The gunshots continued and they opened the door to the second floor. They ran past more stores until they noticed a door leading to an exit. The exit sign blinking rapidly. They tried pushing and pulling on the door, shaking it violently. The four teens had ran into a dead end, the door was chained from the outside and they couldn't get past .

"Dammit we're trapped!" Veruca said, panicking.

"We can always go hide?" Charlie suggested.

"Don't be stupid, they will find us in minutes!" Violet growled.

"There has to be another exist!" Mike told them, he heard footsteps growing louder.

"He's right. We're on the second level, if we could climb down these bannisters there HAS to be a fire exist." Veruca quickly responded.

They all agreed to follow her, considering she had the most experience with shopping malls. It was a struggle, but they quickly climbed down. They continued running, believing the coast to be clear. They were about to turn a corner when Veruca noticed the gang waiting. In a split second she managed to ward the others off, not before getting shot in the process.

She screamed in pain, blood poured out of her thigh. With quick thinking, Charlie ripped off the sleeve of his shirt and tightly wrapped it around her leg to help stop the bleeding. She couldn't walk and Charlie offered to carry her, with Violet now leading the group and Mike following behind them, shooting at anything that followed. It seemed as if playing all those video games really paid off. Violet finally found an exit, they ran outside to see the rest of the gang waiting for them. They were surrounded. They knew there was no escape and Veruca was tuning in and out of consciousness, becoming pale from the blood loss. They were trapped.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" The leader of the gang spoke. He had shaggy, greasy brown hair that covered his grey eyes. What lay beneath was an eyepatch. His face littered with scars. He wore a red bandana over his sleeveless, ripped denim jacket. It was tied on his shoulder. His gravely voice cut through the terrified teens.

"Looks like we've got a bunch of misfits. And let me guess? You them factory dwellers aint ya? Of course! You're the ones cooped up in that big ass place whilst the rest of us have to survive and fend off for ourselves out here in this so called 'wasteland'." He continued. The gang raised there guns up at the group. "Well your not so lucky any more…. especially your little girlfriend over there, looks like she needs some help." He motioned to Charlie carrying her. "Oh well, looks like we'll get to keep the factory now. Boys, shoot these sons of bitches and put them out of their misery." he continued.

Charlie closed his eyes, and shielded himself in front of Veruca. He was waiting for the bullets to pierce him but heard a clunk. He quickly opened his eyes, and he dove for cover. What appeared to be a grenade blew up after both parties ducked for cover. Whoever threw it motioned them to run, in which they did.

The mysterious stranger wore a gas mask, covering his entire face. His torn, rolled up sleeves on his black trench coat revealed burns. Underneath he wore a red varsity jacket that was button up. He carried an assortment of weaponry. Charlie turned to thank him but saw that he was gone. They ran back to the factory, and shut it down. Charlie rushed Veruca to where the medical bay was. The Puppet Burns centre was luckily not a dangerous part of the factory, and they often used it for when they got injured. He couldn't help but wonder who that mysterious helper was, and why they hadn't seen him before. If it was one thing he knew, it was that they were going to need his help for when that gang comes back.


	3. Feelings

"We need to get the bullet out before it does anymore damage" Mike spoke, rushing his words as they put a heavily bleeding Veruca on the medical table. She had just been shot by a hoard of gang members as they were trying to escape their territory. Charlie was shaking, he was too shocked, and Violet had to tell him to put it together. Veruca was at the risk of dying and they couldn't have him doing nothing. But they didn't know that he had seen it happen. It happened so fast, one minute she was leading the group, and the next she was on the ground, blood pouring out of her leg. He felt guilty, it should of been him, not her. But if she hadn't of pulled them back, they all would of been dead. Violet felt her pulse, it was slow and barely beating, her breathing slow. She knew that she would probably die if they took it out, they needed her heart rate to be faster.

"Stop! We need to give her an adrenaline shot first, we don't have many of these, so be careful. She could die otherwise. Charlie, you hold her down after I do it."

"You mean she will be awake?" Charlie asked concerned.

"Well, yes…. It will wake her up, but we need a higher heart rate or she will die… and unfortunately we don't have any aesthetic to numb the pain. So what would you rather Charlie? That she dies?"

He shook his head and held her down. Violet plunged the needle into her, and she woke up with a jolt. She started screaming with pain as the two held her down. Violet told her to be still as she and Mike tried to get the bullet out. She kept squirming on the table and crying in pain, her breathing becoming rapid. Charlie used all his strength to hold her down as they took the bullet out. They quickly applied pressure to the wound and used alcohol to sterilise it. Now all they needed to do was stitch her up. Charlie told her to try to stay still but she wasn't listening. She kept struggling as they finally stitched her up.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked. She simply shook her head and passed out. He told the others to discuss about what they needed to do about the gang whilst he waited for her to wake up. They told him that she would probably wake up in a couple of days, but he firmly told them that he was staying with her. He didn't want anything else to happen to her, and he didn't want her to be alone if she woke up. Violet and Mike walked back to the inventing room to brief on what just happened.

"What we need to know is who those guys were and what they want?" Violet asked, slamming her hands on the desk.

"I saw the patch on their chests, it looked like a skull with the words 'Lucius' Legion' or something. If those guys were serious then they must really want to take over this factory."

"Well, then what do we do? We cant just sit here" Violet asked.

"I don't know. We can stop the power and completely shut the factory down, but I don't know how thats gonna fix it. Besides, the manual generator is on the other side of the factory. It would be too dangerous. "

"Yeah but if we do that, we would have to go to the generator every time we need supplies. And they could be waiting for us when that happens." Violet responded

"Well, then… I guess we would have to fight… not a good idea but it's the only one we have."

"Yeah sure, three people and one who is probably going to die going up against a whole gang!? That doesn't seem like a very good idea Mike. We are outnumbered and they have better supplies and weaponry than us!" Violet told him. He knew that was the case, but it was the only option at that moment.

They decided to put all the supplies they gathered on the table. It wasn't much, but it could last them a couple of weeks. Violet went back to the medical bay to check on Veruca. She asked Charlie how she was doing. Apparently her breathing was slow, so Violet checked her pulse. Her heart rate was slower than normal, but enough for her to survive. She told Charlie that she didn't know when she would wake up, and if she does, she would need time to recover and that he should join the rest of the group. He refused, saying that she needed someone to be there when she woke up.

"Charlie… thats if she wakes up… she nearly died. That much blood loss should have killed her. It was a good thing you put pressure on it." She told him.

"We should have gone back. She told us it wasn't safe, and we didn't listen to her. We should have trusted her."

Violet told him that they should have, but it was in the past now, what happened had happened and there was nothing else they could do.

"You really like her, don't you?" she asked concerned

"Yeah well… she's my friend… I'd do the same if it were you."

"I see the way you look at her. Don't bullshit me Bucket" she chuckled.

He tried to ignore her but she kept insisting. She saw the way he looked at her. It was clearly obvious, even Mike commented on the fact that if Charlie hadn't realised his feelings for her by now, then he was clearly a dumbass. But Charlie kept on insisting that he only liked her as a friend.

"You both really need each other. I can see that. Whenever we have arguments you always try to calm HER down, never me…and when we go by your old house, she always pulls you back into reality, sometimes even asking you to talk about it as if she really cares."

"That means nothing Violet! It's not like you when you gawk over Mike! Just-" He paused for a minute, was she right? "She's my friend and I want to help her okay, " He continued.

She gave up and gave him some food. Violet told him what to do if she woke up, and left huffing. Was she right though? Does he have feelings for her? He looked at her, she seemed so peaceful sleeping. He didn't want anything to happen to her. He shook his head, it was a crazy thought. They were JUST friends. Nothing else, nothing more and she probably didn't feel that way about him either. Did she?

 **A/N Not my best, but oh well, I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry I haven't updated I've been swamped with uni work.**


	4. Awake

Veruca woke up to a bright light. Her head was dizzy and she felt very light headed and nauseous. She slowly got up in pain and saw Charlie sitting by her side. He was asleep, and she tried calling out to him but she couldn't speak. Her throat raspy and dehydrated. Veruca looked down at the bloody bandages on her thigh, she could barely move it and was in pain. She tried calling him out again, almost yelling to get him to wake up. He woke up and immediately went to her side. He gave her some water.

"Charlie… what are you doing here?" She finally said, her voice raspy.

"I-I was waiting for you… I didn't want you to be alone when you woke up… you were out for a couple of days, Violet didn't know if you would make it." he replied softly

"Oh… th-thank you…" she replied. "If I may ask… what exactly happened?" she continued.

"You don't remember?" he asked, concerned. She shook her head and told him she doesn't remember much. Charlie recounted what happened and said that Violet told him she could have died. She didn't say anything, but nodded at what he told her. She asked him who saved them. He didn't know, but reassured her that he was going to find out. Meanwhile Mike was looking through old spare parts in the inventing room. He had become quite the builder and fixer over the years, using his intelligence to help him. Violet came over with some food and asked him what he was doing. He responded by saying that he was building a leg brace to help Veruca.

"Why? Do you like her or something?" she scoffed with a hidden disappointment.

"Me? Like Salt!? Are you crazy?! No, I'm just making this because she will need help getting back on her feet, especially if that gang comes back." He told her, which relieved Violet. Over the years Violet and Mike had bonded, they were both competitive and felt superior than the others. He was more intelligent than anyone and she was skilful. They often worked together and became great friends, however Violet began having feelings for him. She of course tried to deny it at first, but couldn't help feel that there was something there.

"We should probably check the cameras." She told him. He logged on to the main security computer to find a red alert.

"What the fuck!? It's those guys again." He said. On the screen was the gang, they were trying to bang down the door. They didn't know that it was almost indestructible. They both saw a shape in the corner of the screen. Suddenly a flash bang on the screen, they couldn't see anything. Once it died down they saw the ground on fire and the gang running. Mike realised it was the Mysterious Figure in the corner and it left.

"We have to tell the others!" Mike said. Violet stopped him and told him that she didn't think Veruca was up for it, they didn't even know if she was awake or not. Mike suggested they use another adrenaline shot but Violet refused, they didn't have many left. He grabbed the brace he was working on and headed to the Infirmary. Mike and Violet burst into the room, they both saw Veruca chatting to Charlie, she mentioned how cold it was in the room. Mike chucked to leg brace to her and told her to use it.

"Oh good you're up. Now, put that on and we have to have a discussion."

"What is this?" She said looking at the brace in disgust. He told her it was a leg brace and she refused because it looked ugly and painful. He told her to put it on and she complied. It was a struggle at first but she did it. He told her it would help her to stand and created less pain, however she was obviously still going to be limping though.

"I don't think she is well enough-"

"Shut it Bucket! We found something!" Mike said, cutting him off.

They looked worried and told them what they had just seen on the security cameras. They noted the this 'Legion' must be after them to get the factory and wondered what they would do if they seized the chance. They also told them that the same mysterious person came back and used, what they thought, was a Molotov cocktail to ward them off.

"Again?" Charlie asked. "Who is this guy? Do you think we should let him into the factory?"

"How do we know if he is on their side or not? This could be some big ploy." Violet said.

Charlie nodded, she was right. They didn't know who the guy was, and for all they knew he could be a double agent. But he was curious and desperate to find out. He remembered the burns he saw on his arms and told them that. But whatever he was doing, he was trying to protect them.

"No… Charlie's right" Veruca piped up. " For all we know, he could be trying to help us. I didn't take a good look at what he was doing, but from what you're telling me, he could be actually trying to help us. And who knows, he may even be trying to stop those guys. "

"And he might lead us to other survivors." Charlie added, smiling that she was on his side.

The other two reluctantly agreed, and told them they needed a plan. Charlie asked how long ago it was when the Legion attacked the factory. They told them it wasn't long ago, and they could probably still track down the mysterious helper from looking at the cameras. Charlie told them that they should follow him, to find him and ask him what he wanted and to see if there were any survivors who could help them. Mike agreed and told them that they would leave soon so Veruca had better get used to walking on her leg. The plan was a good plan, but why did they all seem so nervous?


	5. The Tunnels

Charlie helped Veruca get back on her feet and the quickly followed Mike and Violet to the giant doors of the factory. Mike scouted the area at first, trying to see if it was an ambush. Once he believed they were safe, he told the others to follow him. Violet mentioned that the cameras suggested that the mysterious stranger went through the abandoned train tunnels. They continued walking, Veruca dragging them down with her leg. Even if most of the weight was being helped by the brace, he leg was still aching in pain. Charlie offered to help her, putting her arm over his shoulder to make sure that she leaned against him when they walked.

It was cold. The ground was covered in a thin layer of snow. The pavement was rocky. It had looked like a lightning had struck it, with debris everywhere. Buildings that looked isolated, no one had been in them for years. Charlie thought about how lively the streets seemed before they entered the factory. Now everything was gone. Everyone was dead. The group tried not to trip on the debris as they walked to the train station, which was deserted. They saw the dark tunnel ahead of them. Veruca clutched onto Charlie in fear as he helped her down onto the track. He told her not to worry, he was there for her if she needed it. She took his advice and they continued to follow the others. Mike and Violet, intrigued with the mystery of the identity of the stranger. They were determined to track him down. They all turned on their flashlights once they couldn't see anymore, the lights from the tunnel were cracked and broken giving no light. Charlie had suggested that they tape their flashlights to their guns to which they did. Veruca was trembling in fear. She never liked the dark and had a bad feeling that the tunnel was the home to many bad things. Violet angrily remarked that she should stop being scared and help them.

"Shut up!" Veruca responded.

"Well you're the one who suggested we go find this stupid guy, so you shouldn't be scared." Violet said. To which Veruca told her to shut up again. The look on Veruca's face was one of worry, not anger to which Violet was confused about, asking what she meant.

"Seriously, I think I heard something." Veruca replied.

They all went quiet, they began listening to the tunnels.

"I hear it too" Charlie added, once he heard a low growling.

Veruca turned around and shone her flashlight, revealing a glowing pair of gold eyes. She tapped Charlie who turned around to see the pair of eyes. More eyes began appearing in their flashlights. Veruca called out to Mike and Violet, who had heard a noise from above. Violet shone her flashlight upwards revealing a sickly, humanoid creature. Its skin was translucent with a hint of green. The creatures didn't blink, their eyes wide open. It looked down at Violet with a creepy grin and leapt down in front of the group.

Mike quickly stabbed the creature, only for it to grab Mike and throw him across the tunnel. Violet tried shooting the creature but to grabbed her gun and snapped it in half. It seemed invulnerable to penetration of any sort. It swiped its claws at Violet who managed to dodge it, however she tripped on the tracks. The creature grabbed Violet by the throat and lifted her up, examining her.

Meanwhile Charlie and Veruca were trying to dodge the rest of the pack. They lunged at Charlie and tried clawing at him. They were strong, but he managed to push it away. It landed onto his torch, breaking it. The creature began shrieking in pain, with Charlie realising that it must have burnt its self on the exposed torch. He quickly got up and jabbed the torch at a nearby creature who was closing in on Veruca.

"How did you do that?" Veruca asked.

"I think its vulnerable to heat." He told her. She smiled and he went to save Violet, who was close to getting her throat ripped out by the creature. Suddenly, fire blew out everywhere. The creatures ran away, dropping Violet onto the ground. Was it Mike? Charlie got a closer look as the figure stepped out of the shadows. It was the mysterious helper.

"I hear that you've been following my tracks" The mysterious stranger said in a thick German accent. He took off his mask to reveal a familiar face, a former ticket winner. Charlie noticed the burns on his arm, and the scars across his face. It must have been when he fell into the hot chocolate river.

"Augustus?"


End file.
